neuronbob

I just had my Falken 512s rotated today as plart of my B2 service. They now have 17,200 miles on them and were installed in May 2004. The tires have been howling for months now despite (other than a recent episode of tire pressure change) good air pressure. I asked for a tire inspection during the service and was told that the tires are cupped.

If I understand correctly, tire cupping can occur because of low air pressure, suspension component wear, poor tire balance, bad tires, or poor alignment. I don't think my A-Spec suspension is impaired; the ride is the same as after the suspension was installed. The suspension was aligned at the same time as the A-Spec was installed. I check the air in my tires on a regular basis and found the pressure low recently (I posted here about it). However, the tires have been noisy since the fall. The tires were poorly balanced after the dealer installed them initally last year--they have a Hunter balancing system and this experieince has lessened my respect for them. I had that problem corrected early. I'm sure it's not the tires themselves because all are involved.

My question is this: should I replace the tires and get a new alignment (preferably at a real tire shop, not the dealer)? Or should I just wear the crap out of these first. There's enough tread to get me through at least another 10k miles, I think, and I'd hate to have to replace the tires less than a year after purchasing new tires.

Opinions?

cM3go

I would get the alignment checked, if the alignment checks, and the pressure was kept as it should, I would contact Falken for replacements, that just doesnt sound right if everything was the way it was suppose to be but still the tires cupped.

Lore

My tires are cupped...and yet the suspension, alignment, etc, are all okay. Had two of them replaced too. A tire dealer told me that cupping can also happen if you drive the car hard. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's just what he said.

cM3go

Lore has Bridgestone Potenza RE750, for reference

Lore

I should mention that my car drifts right when I drive, so I had my alignment checked 4 times by 3 different dealers and 1 tire shop. A lot of work went into trying to figure it out, yet nothing was fixed.

ed99

Can someone tell me what cupping means??? Sorry!!

PoochaKannInc

Cupped tires mean that the tires have some portions worn out. Some parts of the rubber have been "rubbed" out. I've heard of motorcyclists calling it "scalloping". I thought that cupping occurs with:
a. worn shocks
b. aggressive cornering/launches (where there is a lot of axle hop). By the way, axle hop is when the wheels move up and down very quickly when launched and the tires are spinning, then brought to a sudden stop, and then bounce up and spin and then suddenly stop when they touch the pavement. It is very damaging to the suspension and also to tires.

I'm not sure if either one of these situations apply to neuronbob's case. I would suggest you check out the alignment of your car, and see what the results are. But I would ride on the Falkens and wear them out, before investing in new tires.

If anyone has more info on "cupping" please chime in, I know there are tire experts on this forum who know more about this than I do.

neuronbob

Thanks for the posts, guys. I'll wear the puppies out and keep putting up with the noise (status quo). The adhesion hasn't been much affected. I engage in hard starts occasionally, but not often enough to cause cupping. I suspect I need an alignment.

ed99

[QUOTE=PoochaKannInc]

Thanks PoochaKannInc!!!

stevelit

I got cupping on the rear tires with the Kumho ASX's. The tire dealer said the car should have been aligned at least once a year and that could have caused the cupping. I found out they were cupped when I rotated the tires, because I got an annoying singing that lasted 10,000 miles. You can feel the cupping by rubbing your hands lightly over the tires. Part of my problem also may have been that I used the 245-45W17 size and ran them at 30psi but I also got excessive wear in the centers. Next time, I'll go back to 235s, align once a year and rotate every oil change (if I can find the time - after all, it is free with the installation, usually). The other solution is to never rotate - I'm told by a friend with a Beemer that they say don't rotate...

6spMike

Lore, it could be a bad tire. Swap them around until you find which one is causing the pull, then replace it.